“You should really go check on him. Just because he’s notstill in the hospital doesn’t mean he doesn’t still need some help.” Natalie lifted her right arm in the air and flopped it around. “He could’ve broken his arm, or all of his fingers. He can’t hold his coffee cup.”
Sheila laughed. “Okay, you don’t have to be as dramatic as I’m being.”
“Well, if he’s like you without coffee, not being able to lift his coffee mug could be dangerous for us all.” She laughed. “Go see him.” Natalie pressed her hands together. “You should. You’ll never know if there’s something here worth fighting for if you don’t at least see it through. I can go with you.”
“No. I’ve got this.” Sheila stood. “I have a right to be mad, don’t I?”
“I don’t think you’re mad. I think you were worried. That’s different.”
“Okay.” Sheila got up and pulled the band out of her messy bun, letting her hair hang long across her shoulders.
“I’m going to wait for you,” Natalie said. “You better come right back, or call so we don’t worry.” Natalie’s face showed that she was mocking her, like only a best friend could get away with.
“Don’t push your luck.” Sheila got up to get the Christmas gift for Tucker from the kitchen, and grabbed the other small gift out of the Tesla on her way out. She decided to walk to his house, to burn off some of her nervous energy, and figure out what she was going to say.
The short walk didn’t feel long enough. She was still nervous, and disappointment still hung heavy on her heart.
Chapter Twenty-nine
Tucker’s shoulder ached and the painkiller they’d given him at the hospital when they treated the burn to his ear was wearing off. Piercing pain throbbed down the side of his ear and neck. He reached for one of the painkillers. He hated taking pills, but he couldn’t bear this level of pain.
“You don’t have to apologize to us, Tucker. Sheila had all those boxes ready in record time. She’s like her own little production line,” Doris said. “The others packed them up this morning. They said it was the easiest sort and load they’d ever done.”
“I’m not surprised. She’s really something.” He’d looked forward to pulling the all-nighter with her.
Doris sat in the chair across from Tucker, shaking her head. “She was working like a fiend to get them done for you when I got there. I feel kind of bad, because I didn’t think to set expectations with her. I thought she was fine up there working, but I could tell when she came down and asked that she was worried you hadn’t gotten back.”
“Worried?” Frank shrugged. “People don’t really understand how we work.”
Doris nodded. “That’s true, but it wasn’t just that. I think she was legit worried something might have happened to Tucker.” Her eyes darted back to Tucker. “I think shereallylikes you.”
Tommy snickered. “All the women always really like Tucker.”
Sully said, “She seems nice. I talked to her at the Christmas Tree Stroll.”
Jonathan, Tommy, Sully, and Frank all stood in his living room behind where Doris sat on the couch. “Kelly said Sheila asked them about you, too,” Doris said. “They told her you’d been hurt, but that it wasn’t serious.”
Tommy said, “You have been spending a lot of time with her lately, Chief.”
“She’s nice,” said Doris.
“She’s very ladylike,” Sully said.
“She is every bit a lady,” Tucker said. “But she’ll be leaving town soon.”
Doris shook her head. “Or maybe she won’t.”
Tucker didn’t want to get his hopes up. “Her life is in Richmond. She has a business there. I don’t see her relocating up here, and I sure have no interest in going to Richmond.”
“If she was upset about you not getting back, she doesn’t sound much like fire chief wife material, anyway,” said Tommy.
“No one is talking marriage. I just met her,” Tucker said. “We’ve been having fun.”
“You looked serious about her. I think there’s something there,” said Doris.
“Well, if she freaked out over one late night, that would never work.” Tommy and Jonathan laughed.
“You got that right,” said Tucker. “Well, once she leaves, sheprobably won’t be back for a while. I guess that’ll be that. No harm. No foul.”
